NFL suspension behind him, Chiefs defensive lineman Charles Omenihu debuts with a bang
The six-same NFL suspension was over, game day was approaching and Charles Omenihu felt “super calm.”
Then Sunday arrived — at 6:15 a.m., for Omenihu — and his heart started beating faster than he’d expected.
“I woke up ... charged up,” Omenihu said. “I told myself to turn it down a little bit.”
Omenihu collected himself enough to post the type of game the Chiefs hoped to get when they signed him to a two-year deal in the offseason. In a 31-17 home victory over the Los Angeles Chargers, Omenihu recorded a sack and got his hands on a Justin Herbert pass that resulted in an interception.
He was a big part of a defensive effort that pitched a second-half shutout and allowed the Chiefs to pull away in a game that was tied 17-17 late in the second quarter.
“They trusted me, brought me in to add more to the fire,” Omenihu said.
In improving to 6-1 and opening a three-game lead in the AFC West, the Chiefs recorded five sacks and were credited with seven passes defended. And their run of holding opponents to two or fewer offensive touchdowns continued with Sunday’s performance.
Omenihu played his first 2 1/2 seasons with the Houston Texans before being traded to the San Francisco 49ers about midway through the 2021 season. He was part of the defensive line rotation at both of those stops, collecting 11 1/2 career sacks and appearing in eight playoff games in four seasons.
In August, Omenihu was suspended by the NFL for the first six regular-season contests of 2023 for violating the league’s personal-conduct policy. He was arrested for suspicion of misdemeanor domestic violence on Jan. 23.
Omenihu played in the Chiefs’ three preseason games, then had to sit out.
“Not playing football for the past six weeks is probably the hardest thing I ever had to do,” Omenihu said. “(Then) trying to be a piece of the puzzle that’s already been put together quite nicely, it was eating at me.”
But he looked like he’d been part of the Chiefs’ line packages all along. In the second quarter, with the game tied, the Chiefs turned a second-and-10 into a third-and-16 when Omenihu brought down Herbert. Pressure from Chris Jones forced Herbert to step up in the pocket and Omenihu was there for the sack.
Perhaps the more consequential play came in the third quarter.
The Chiefs led 24-17 and drove into Chargers territory. Mahomes hooked up with tight end Blake Bell. But the ball came out and was ruled a fumble, with L.A. recovering.
Momentum had shifted as the Chargers drove to the Chiefs’ 8. On third and goal, Herbert’s pass was batted in the air by Omenihu and into the arms of cornerback L’Jarius Sneed.
A giveaway was answered by a takeaway and the Chargers didn’t cross midfield in their next three possessions. The Chiefs were on their way to winning a game that Omenihu learned this week carried added importance — a rivalry that usually comes down to a final possession.
Both of last season’s meetings between the Chiefs and Chargers were decided by three points.
“I kept asking around the building this week, ‘The Chargers game is a big one, huh?’” Omenihu said.
It is, and in his first opportunity to take the field in the regular season, Omenihu rose to the moment.